MMA Fighting - Coffee Talk: UFC 244

Episode Date: November 4, 2019

In this edition of Coffee Talk, MMA Fighting's Danny Segura, Jose Youngs, Casey Leydon, and Esther Lin discuss UFC 244 fight week in New York for Masvidal vs. Diaz. The MMA Fighting coverage crew here... in New York met the day after the fights to discuss the stoppage at Jorge Masvidal vs Nate Diaz, Till vs. Gastelum, Kevin Lee's KO of Gillespie, Anderson's KO of Walker, and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Starting point is 00:01:23 Instacart, groceries that over-deliver. Service fees exclusions in terms apply. All right, everybody. Welcome to Coffee Talk, where the people that provided you that have been on-site all week long, providing you all the content for UFC 244. Sit down and just have a little casual chat or some coffee and water. This is sparkling black cherry water, sir.
Starting point is 00:01:46 Okay. So we're just going to discuss our week and sort of everything that happened for this USC 24-44 car. It was a fun week. It was a very interesting one. I'm still in all the fact that this was such a big fight,
Starting point is 00:02:02 probably the biggest fight of the year, yet there wasn't a real, right, the championship of a fight on the line. We weren't seeing the two best Walter weights fighting, but nonetheless, it felt huge. It felt. Yeah, but we've known this for a while. Title fights don't mean, they don't mean shit, basically, unless if you give a shit about who's fighting. I mean, the biggest pay-per-view is Connor and Nate. I'm kind of Conor Nate, too.
Starting point is 00:02:26 Yeah, non-title fight. So the fact that it's the biggest fight isn't a surprise. But it just kind of goes back to the point that, you know, the fighters matter. Yeah. And I agree 100%. But for a while it felt like, and this applies to many other aspects. When we talk about Conner McGregor, oh, like, you know, those rules, it's just a Conner McGregor rule. Like, yeah, it was the biggest fight, but it was because of Connemar Greger, right?
Starting point is 00:02:52 This, this and that. For the first time, we're actually seeing this bleed out outside of Conner Greger. Like, all of a sudden, you know, personalities matter, right? And this is really what came down to, two of the biggest personalities in the game, BMF. Yeah, the UFC really needed this in terms of, like, getting someone that wasn't Connor to become a star. And Nate's been that person for a while, I guess. But he's been out, you know, out for three years up until that pet his fight. So it was nice to see it.
Starting point is 00:03:19 It was nice to see him back and just out. He kept repeating last night at the press conference that he's tired of making names for other people. Yeah. And I kind of get that. I understand what he was saying in terms of, because this show. really did manifest because he wanted it to happen and then it happens. Yeah. And Nate was the one that welled us into existence.
Starting point is 00:03:40 Yeah. Now the UFC copy wrote pretty much everything he said and now they're making money off of it, which he said was funny. And I'm just curious, what do you guys think about Mazvidal? Because it seems that Conn Rodriguez in the moneyweight division, right? Nate Diaz is in the moneyweight division. But when I look at Masvidal, he kind of gives me the vibe of both. That was a world-class performance.
Starting point is 00:04:02 Like, I legit see a contender right there that could potentially get the World War II title, but I also see somebody that can just be in fun fights. You see, he's in a weird in two dimensions, it feels like. I mean, Masada's performance, definitely, without a doubt, I don't know if you would necessarily favor him over, say, Usman. I'll probably favor him over Colby, for sure, but over Usman, I'm not sure, honestly.
Starting point is 00:04:28 But he's absolutely as competitive. with all those guys. So, yeah, he could win. So it's, and that's what's... And Nate, like, you probably don't think you could win those fights, but also who cares? Mm-hmm. You know, because Nate doesn't seem to care.
Starting point is 00:04:41 I don't think the fans really care if he used to the champ. Yeah. Actually, that's the big difference. I noticed that, actually, Nate, Nate is very open about, like, bells are stupid. He didn't even care about the DMF title. I am the champ, yeah, already. Belts ruin fights, he said.
Starting point is 00:04:55 Mm-hmm. Well, belts ruin the fight game. Yeah. Yeah, but yeah, but in George, Jorge, sorry, go back to Georgia every once in a while. I think what, is he trained, he's training of George Santiago. Oh, yeah, yeah. That was confusing. That was always confusing.
Starting point is 00:05:09 It was always spelled the same. Maybe it's a Brazil. Yeah, it's Brazil. Yeah. Yeah. But Jorge, he seems like when the idea of the rematch came up, he kind of was a bit dismissive. Didn't you feel? Yeah.
Starting point is 00:05:24 Hmm. I think he, it obviously, in, the octagon when the fight was waived off, I think he was 100% like, we'll run it back, like let's do it. But then I think when he saw, maybe saw the cut and he heard Dana White's comments, maybe that kind of. Well, I think also the promise of that title fight, you know, because he does actually, now he is closer because it was such a great performance.
Starting point is 00:05:45 He did look really good. So I think that actually he does seem like someone you would actually consider for the title. I would actually love to see him in the Walter Rade picture. Against Usman or Covington, I'm like, I don't know. I might favor, you know, Usman, maybe even Covington, but it's still a fight that I'm not really sure what's going to happen. Whereas Diaz or Connor McGregor, I'm pretty sure they're not going to, you know, reign the Walthorweight Division anytime soon.
Starting point is 00:06:09 Yeah. And I think with just going back to the cut real quick, I think Nate's going to be out. He'll have to be out for at least six months, more like eight to nine months, at least. And that's, you know, that's assuming everything goes perfect. Yeah. Because that cut is just, that's just, it doesn't even matter.
Starting point is 00:06:26 He can be dominating. a fight, but like you said, you sneeze on that cut, it's going to blow up again. And even then, even if he takes a long layoff, which you should, that's going to be a recurring problem moving forward. I mean, you put out, we put out a graphic on MAFighting.com on our social platforms where it was comparing the pettus cut versus this cut. It's the same thing. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:06:48 It's really the same thing. He got it from the same thing, but this one opened up more this time because it also opened up underneath his cheek a little bit more. But the stoppage was for this one. Yeah, the stoppage was for this one, for sure. But, yeah, those were saying, if he needs plastic surgery, all the stuff, that's all going to take more time. Plus, we actually don't know. He mentioned that he had a knee injury.
Starting point is 00:07:07 Yeah, that's not. And we actually don't know how serious that is. You couldn't run. Yeah. Because that was his thing, so he couldn't rely on his cardio. Yeah. Of all the Nate fights and Nate post-fight interviews and scrums I've ever heard, I've never, the thing that's surprising the most of what he said was I've never heard him talk about confidence. And the fact that he actually, I think he actually said he didn't feel confident in his cardio,
Starting point is 00:07:27 which is like, I don't know, it was actually kind of weird, not weird, but hearing Nate say, here Nate actually talked like a fighter in that sense. Because you know, a strategic fighter rather, rather than get like, I just, you know, I want to fight, you know. But him saying, no, I had to pace myself. I couldn't go, like, like he said, I usually can go like 95% the whole fight. Yeah. But he had to go in like spurts. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:07:49 So. And we saw that. We saw him catch up beating and then all of a sudden. kind of come back a little bit and had a little bit of offense. And yeah, that's a great point because it seems, it just kind of highlights how important cardio is to the Diaz brothers and to Nate because that's such a key element to their game. Yeah. He can be a little bit out of shape, right? There could be other things going on, but cardio is the thing that, like, look, if I'm not stepping into the fight with cardio.
Starting point is 00:08:15 Yeah. It's his weapon. Yeah, cardio is a weapon in MMA and that's their main weapon. and yeah, that, he came in there for, you know, a disadvantage. So let's quickly discuss. I think the initial reaction for the cut, as soon as the fight was stopped, was like, what are you doing?
Starting point is 00:08:33 We've seen much worse. But I've seen a lot of pictures surface since. We heard Dana White's comments. And I don't know, it kind of changed my mind over the last few hours since I last saw you guys. What do you guys think? Before we talk about the cut, I want to recreate your actual reaction
Starting point is 00:08:49 when the rep was like this. Like, what was your feel, man? Like, it was kind of like, where were you when they stopped that fight? I was staring at a little TV in the media room. I believe I was drinking Sprite, might have been. But yeah, as soon as the fight was stopped, it was just like, I was live tweeting for me fighting, and I was just like, I had to kind of catch myself,
Starting point is 00:09:13 like, this really just happened? Like, oh, man, this is like worst case scenario, right? And yeah, everybody in the media room was kind of like, But look, I think emotions were so high. It was a good fight. It was a fight where you're kind of on the edge of your seat that when something like that happens, the first thing you could do is just throw your hands up in the air
Starting point is 00:09:30 and be like, what the hell, ref, right? Or doctor. But in this case, like now with a more sober perspective and after seeing those pictures, I feel different about it. I kind of feel like it was a good call. I don't know. I laughed on controlably when it happened. You were at case.
Starting point is 00:09:44 I could not stop laughing. I was like, oh, neither. So you were the closest person to it. That's right. You were about... I was like three feet behind her. I could not stop laughing. I was like, this makes sense.
Starting point is 00:09:57 That was what I audibly said. I was like, this makes a lot of sense right now. It's unfortunately just one of those things that you think just is going to happen. It feels like we don't deserve nice things. I talk about it. I talk about the A-side all the time that I always think something terrible is going to happen. Always, like in life. And when that happened, I was like, this makes all this just makes sense.
Starting point is 00:10:20 sense. This feels right. Not that I was happy that it happened, but I'm like, of course this would happen in the BMF championship. Like if it happened in the Akeemdoato-Hulio Arce fight, I would be like, well, that's a bummer for that fight, but because it's the BMF championship of the world, it would be like, yeah, we deserve this right now.
Starting point is 00:10:36 Yeah. It did feel a little bit like, oh, is it because we don't deserve nice things? Yeah, 100%. However, actually, at that moment, I was actually pretty bummed. I was very upset because I was on Nate's corner side. So when the doctor came over and looked at him and then Nate like they were kind of talking and then
Starting point is 00:10:53 Nate kind of like thumbs up and the doctor gave him the thumbs you know they were kind of like okay so at that point I stopped taking pictures of that situation because I thought it was over I was like okay cool it's all right they're cool they're gonna let it go like one more round yeah and then that's why I was that's why when they when they ended it I was like what because it just seemed like five minutes ago they were a couple seconds ago it was fine that's why it seemed didn't the doctor come twice? It felt like you kind of went away and then we're like, oh yeah, we're good. And then he came back and he's like, not. Right? I don't remember if the doctor was in there while the cutman was working. I think he came after. Yeah, usually they let the cut guy work. And then
Starting point is 00:11:32 as soon as they start the round, before the round starts, then the rough will be like, all right, doc come in, which is normal. They should take a look. But I mean, come on, we've been, we've been in this game for 15 years. I mean, you guys have been working in MMA a long time. 12 years. It was just like, man, we know we've seen worse cuts. And like, it's just, it's, I'm like, we're, what, 24 hours removed? Not even 24 hours removed, like, whatever. And like, I'm still like, I'm just still bummed.
Starting point is 00:12:03 I still think it was a crap stoppage. Bomberville, population, yes. Bummerville. Yeah, it was, the ending was disappointing for sure. But I want to ask you something because you did mention something interesting. You were shooting from Nate's corner. Yeah. So a lot of the talk was like, dude, Nate was getting smoked.
Starting point is 00:12:23 Like, there was no way he was coming back. But then if you actually like hear what he was saying, kind of, and then again, just a quick parenthesis, it's kind of like when people were like, oh, Habib versus Nate Diaz and you're like, nah, like that doesn't even make sense. But then you hear Nate Diaz talk about how he slapped Rabib and sort of how he sees things in his perspective. You're like, wait a minute, that fight, all of a sudden you start kind of, you know, liking the idea a little better.
Starting point is 00:12:45 when he was talking about the fight with Mazvil, the way his perspective, he felt like he was coming back. And he was like, I was in my corner, I was staring at him in between rounds. He was tired. We kept talking all the time, and we saw that from the media room.
Starting point is 00:12:59 And then he was talking out of breath. In your opinion, how did that look? How did that seem look? And do you share his perspective at all? Yeah, so I could hear, when he said that his corner was panicking a little bit and he was telling them to chill, I could hear that panic because the cut was very big.
Starting point is 00:13:14 and they were trying to rinse it out and there was just kind of like blood and bloody water like just shooting up his face but he was just kind of like whatever he was very calm he was totally calm I was trying to get photos of him in the corner
Starting point is 00:13:26 and he was just like totally didn't care what was going on blood don't hurt yeah blood don't hurt he was just kind of looking over like whatever I'm cool and everyone else around him was like panicking
Starting point is 00:13:38 but he actually did seem like he was in a good mood plus after the second and third round he came back and he was like pumped. Because I think each round that passed, he felt better. Yeah. So I actually, yeah, it's hard to say because I don't know that he's come back from a fight like that. But I just know that like the fourth round against Connor and that second one.
Starting point is 00:14:02 Yeah. So he does have, we do know that he is stronger in the later rounds. And he did, he did lose that first round of Pettis. Yeah. He got as he came back. Yeah, he lost. I thought he lost it pretty significantly the first round against Pettis. That's why he got his face cut open.
Starting point is 00:14:15 That's where he got his face cut open. And then he beat the sole out of Pettison in the final, like, two rounds. He got his ass kick in the first round. In the first Connor one. He was getting worked. And then he came back once his cardio kicked in and the volume started adding up. He lost the first round to Michael Johnson. We fought Michael Johnson.
Starting point is 00:14:32 I mean, like, I mean, outside of, honestly, outside of maybe the final Gray-Maynard fight, I can't think of Nate having a strong first round. Yeah. I get worried that he's measuring punches with his face. He's making a million-dollar paychecks doing that. You're talking about the last great matter fight when T-K-Oed him against that, yeah. Yeah, that's a person. That's like, that's right really the only time I really can't recall Nate coming out, like guns blazing.
Starting point is 00:15:00 And that's one of the things against the pedis fight, he knew when he was coming back. Like, sure, his brand is big, but he knew a win was important. So he made adjustments in that camp for him to, like, be strong right off the bat. And everybody acknowledged, even Mazvido was like, Well, I'm surprised this dude's swaying this often and this hard and that early. So it seems that all the fans, it seems at least all the media, right after the event, wanted the rematch. How do you guys feel about it now, a few hours of a move? I still want the rematch.
Starting point is 00:15:27 Yeah. Yeah. Well, okay, I think we all can agree on that. What about immediate rematch? Yeah, I still want the immediate rematch. I don't want the immediate rematch only because of the recovery from the... Well, Jorge needs his hands fixed anyway, so they're both going to be on the shelf. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:15:40 Horrie sounds like he said he's definitely taking the rest of the year off, but that's only three months. Neither of them wanted to fight for the rest of 2019. Like they wanted to fight in 2020. Well, we're already in November, so there's only two months like. And the supposed Connor pay-per-view is January 18. None of them will be ready for that. Neither will. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:16:00 I think you could throw enough. They could throw enough money at Jorge for that. I mean, you just throw money 100% in anybody. Nate actually can't make that fight now. There's no way he does. Especially with the possible knee injury. Yeah, and so Nate's out of that running. So possibly Jorge.
Starting point is 00:16:19 Jorge said after his Ben Asking fight, he didn't want to fight for the rest of the year. He wanted to take July through December off to heal his hands, and they made him a huge offer, so he fought in November because they needed someone. So this fight probably wouldn't even have happened if they didn't need a, in 2019, if they didn't need a headline for MSG. So if Jorge fought with too badly injured hands, he could be on the show. for the summer too. Yeah, because he's seen, people are like, I'm not fighting.
Starting point is 00:16:43 I need to fix both of my hands. So if he needs to heal his hands, Nate needs to heal his eyebrow, they could be on the same timeline in terms of coming back. They could be, but also I think that the Walter White title picture is going to maybe play a factor. Because that's actually timing-wise would be perfect in terms of whoever wins in December. That actually makes sense for- International Fight Week. Yeah, kind of a defense, and the international fight week would be the next defense of that
Starting point is 00:17:07 title. Yeah. Can we just agree that the rematch should not be anywhere near New York? Yeah. New Jersey. Should be in San Francisco, the new arena. That's what you were talking about. The Warriors Arena.
Starting point is 00:17:18 Look, I've been dying to see an event in Miami. And look, Horget is the BMF champ. That would be cool. Take it to his home city. He's, you know, he's the 305. And I feel like something that's not talked about enough is that Miami has never had a fighter. Like a big name. Like, Yo Romero.
Starting point is 00:17:38 somewhat fits that story because he he's obviously achieved a lot but he I feel like is more of a Cuban fighter than he is a Miami guy right like Mazvla grew up in Miami so I guess I mean I always say Kimbo but Kimbo but the higher success yeah more more and it would come full circle starting to fight back in backyards of Miami to actually like headlining an arena in Miami I feel like that would be really nice yeah it is nice Miami yeah just traditionally I haven't had a lot of events in Miami because Miami is one of those markets that, like, there's so much.
Starting point is 00:18:13 Like San Diego. Like San Diego. There's just too much to do in the evenings. Yeah, there's a lot to do. So people don't usually like go to events. Yeah, because there's other, there's like other things to do. And the weather's nice. So why would you be indoors?
Starting point is 00:18:24 Yeah. But I actually think that this is something that would bring people out. I think so too. So we're in agreement next summer rematch Miami. Miami. Sounds good to me. Yeah. So we'll just plan for them.
Starting point is 00:18:37 Yeah, yeah, yeah. Let's discuss Darren Till's move up to the middleweight division. It was an interesting one, and I think everybody was worried about him, right? It seems going up, I mean, against Kelvin Gasolam, people were advising him, like, look, this is not a good idea. Like, yeah, good idea to go up. Facing Kelvin Gaslum in your first fight, maybe not the greatest. Now that we've seen what happened, he got a victory, a split decision win. How did you guys feel about his middleweight debut?
Starting point is 00:19:05 I actually thought he looked great at middleweight. The only thing my concern was like, usually I like to give credit to the winner. But in this case, I did wonder why Calvin seems so reticent. He just seemed kind of like. He was a lathargic. Yeah. I don't know if maybe that weight cut was really bad because he did not make weight. I'm curious that.
Starting point is 00:19:25 But I think it's fine. Ow. I see what you did that. So Darren Till had all these things happening to him throughout the fight week. The visa issues. I said he, like, injured his knee, so it was like the weight coverage. A lot was going on yet. A lot of stuff was going on.
Starting point is 00:19:40 He actually said he wanted to make up an excuse to pull out of the fight because he wasn't scared. He was terrified. And he landed, what, like 48 hours before the fight, didn't do any media, didn't do nothing. Kelvin didn't know if his fight was going to happen. So I have to wonder, the closer it got to the fight, if Kelvin was like, this isn't happening. Like, me, they were at 72 hours before he still wasn't there. Maybe he just mentally checked out. and then when he landed, it's just hard to get back into fight mode.
Starting point is 00:20:08 Maybe that's why I missed weight because he stopped taking it seriously. Because, like, if you're preparing for a fight and the fight might not happen, like it happened with Robert Whitaker. Like, the fight didn't happen. I was like, they even weighed in and everything. So maybe he's just like, this is too much right now. Yeah, especially for Kelvin since he's kind of gone through that situation, you know, in some ways. And the other thing I was thinking about was you were saying, like,
Starting point is 00:20:29 just not knowing whether the fight's going to happen. Remember, Dianormey was saying that when he had to fight Anderson Silva instead, He had a hard time. He had a really hard time just getting the motivation back up. Because he was just like, I know I'm finding a legend, I'm still getting to fight and all the stuff,
Starting point is 00:20:40 but there's something, he had prepared so hard to fight John Jones and just that mental, like, you're thinking about another human. The switching of the lanes. You're thinking about one person for like 11 weeks. Yeah. And then 72 hours before they're like, nah, someone else.
Starting point is 00:20:55 Yeah, so for Kelvin and for Darren, both, actually, they both had this kind of uncertainty, like, is this going to happen? Is it not going to happen? And, you know, so that kind of just plays into your energy level as well. Yeah, for sure. And so I think that definitely affected the fight. So it's hard to, like, judge it.
Starting point is 00:21:10 I don't think that Daryntel made a mistake in going up to Middle Way. I actually think... I think that's the best move for him. Yeah. Well, I think that's what the mistake was, like, is that the right opponent? Yeah, I think that's what people are really concerned about. Well, no. Because, I mean, he's already fought for the Vulture Retit title all day.
Starting point is 00:21:27 Yeah. They've already fast-tracked him. They've already decided that, you know, should be at a certain level. I do feel they rushed him through that, but at the same time... It's not his fault they rushed him. It's not his fault. Everyone kept saying he made a mistake, fighting Kelvin.
Starting point is 00:21:41 I don't get that argument at all because they offered him a guy that just fought for... What are he's going to say? No. And like, he beats this guy now he's in the top five all of a sudden. There's no way he would turn that down. If anything, the coaches should be like, hey, man, like take a step back. But I don't blame Darynton. I think that's also the promotion because it's clear that they see something in Dary until, right?
Starting point is 00:22:00 He's not going to be a co-main event. You're not going to be getting these type of spots if they don't believe in you. Yeah. And, you know, we saw how Conner came up in the UFC and it was certainly a very much more, don't get me wrong. Every time you're stepping the octagon,
Starting point is 00:22:15 you're taking risks. But there's a much more careful approach. Whereas Darren Till was like, all right, 185, Kelvin Gasol and where he just had the craziest fight with his right, Sania. Yeah, fight in the year. Yeah. And then, like, who did Darren Till lose to a welterweight?
Starting point is 00:22:26 The champion and then Jorge Mazur, who is the fighter of the year. It's not like he's losing the bombs. But y'all doesn't lose those fights. He got crushed, crushed. That's why when you see something like that, you go, okay, let's take a step back. Instead of fighting the top five, maybe the top ten. Yeah, I still don't like this.
Starting point is 00:22:42 I still don't like the matchup. I still don't like the matchup, and I felt like the, they dodged the bullet, the UFC, and Darren Till, because I don't think that was the Kelvin Gasolum that we know as the top tier middleweight. But like we were saying, but that's still. the difference between champions and contenders like demetius gsp anderson they don't have off nights they don't have even john jones even his off nights he still wins yeah and that's just that's kind of the difference you know because kelvin's not a champion he's obviously a great fighter an a level fighter he just hasn't been a champion but he has an off nights yeah and that's a thing
Starting point is 00:23:19 and something that's very interesting and you were there with me um in at the open workouts when kelvin gas them did the scrum i asked them about like look paul costa's out for a bit if you beat Darren Till, could I mean the title fight be next for you? And he's like, yeah, and I think it would go differently because I didn't go into that fight with the right circumstances. And it was very
Starting point is 00:23:41 like seldom the way he threw that. And I'm like, wait a minute, what do you mean by the right circumstances? What was going on? And he's like, oh, some things, but that's all irrelevant now. It's a guy clearly that doesn't make excuses. So I wonder if he was 100% coming into this fight too. Because as you said, he did not look like himself. Yeah, he didn't.
Starting point is 00:23:59 We've seen these other performances performing them, though, when he fought Neil Magni in Mexico. Like, that was a five-round fight, if I remember correctly. That, like, you forgot that fight even happened, right? I know. You told me about what? That fight wasn't great, and it was in Welterweight, and that was when Neil Magne had strung like seven wins in a row before losing the Damien Maia. And, like, the one before Damien Maia was over at Kelvin Gastolin.
Starting point is 00:24:20 So, and we've seen this before from Kelton. I fell on a couple, like, three years from now, we're going to go, you know, hey, you know, you know, they already fought him. We're like, you know they already fought? I'm like, what? It was a very forget. What do you remember from the fight? I don't think we're going to forget it just because it was on a big card.
Starting point is 00:24:36 Yeah. It was the Kelvin Gasselin, Neil Magley, was on a Mexico City fight night. The same night Miguel Cotto fought Canal album is. Like, do you remember who else was on that card? What was the, what was the culminating for? Connor Knight. One was, the first one was Misha Holly Holie home. Before that, it was Corey Anderson.
Starting point is 00:24:52 That was a bad example. It was Corey Anderson. And crap. I forgot the guy's name. Chris Wyman's boy. Yeah, you still. Chuck. John Volante. And let's, I mean,
Starting point is 00:25:03 Darren Till's move up to 185. I don't know if you guys feel the same way, but I'm super excited for it because at 170, like, don't get me wrong, there are some fun matchups, but it seems it's very wrestling heavy. Like if you look at the top, right, Kamara Usman, right, Kobe Covington,
Starting point is 00:25:18 there's others as well. But if you look at 185, the people that are dominating 185 are strikers, right, the former champion, Robert Whitaker, now we got Israel to Sanya, Paulo Costa, who's the next challenger. They have a Cuban boogeyman just walking around. That's the only outsider there.
Starting point is 00:25:33 A Cuban boogeyman that doesn't use his wrestling. Exactly. Yeah, he doesn't actually. So, Darren Till, it's clear that he's a great striker. So it's just, I just think he's a perfect fit for the style of that, I don't think. That populate when he's. It's definitely his division. And he's killed, just like you had asked Kelvin earlier if he, or if he had felt like he was ready for Middleway.
Starting point is 00:25:52 And at first he wasn't. Yeah. Yeah, it takes some time. and Daryntill will get to that point. He's just trying not to over. He had mentioned that he was trying not to bulk up too much so that he wouldn't make his cut too difficult. But I actually just think that this is just the trend that we're seeing now.
Starting point is 00:26:06 People are moving up in weight and realizing that cutting less weight just makes them healthier for the fight. And also I think the judging has got a bit more sophisticated and now we are actually seeing wrestlers who are just holding people not winning the round. And I think that's giving smaller, the smaller middle weights more or August watch rates going up it gives him more confidence to go up and wait now but let's talk about Corey Anderson dude what a performance just completely destroyed Johnny Walker okay coming into it what was
Starting point is 00:26:37 your prediction I predicted Walker first-round K-O yeah and not because I didn't believe in Cory Anderson I just thought style-wise that Quar Anderson's a bit of a kind of a snow grindy starter and I thought it was like oh this is gonna be great for Johnny Walker his chin hasn't hold up in every single bout that he's been and we've seen him get knocked out pretty bad. Dead against Jimmy Maddow. And Johnny Walker just happens to have a lot of power and be crazy.
Starting point is 00:26:59 So I thought, I thought Corey Anderson was going to look good until he got knocked out by Johnny Walker, but what was that wrong? What did you think coming into the fight? Yeah, no, I had Walker on my, you know, a card, you know, that I was going to pick. But as I was getting closer and closer to the fight and I just saw how fired up Corey Henderson was and how angry he was, I thought, I was like, oh. Did you talk to him in a media day? No, we didn't get the chance to him at that dominance that's one of the way we didn't talk to that that was the best interview that like
Starting point is 00:27:31 As soon as he was done me in case we were like happy that was Corey Anderson right? Okay, yeah And like I have no issues no I know Corey's like no one talks me no one believes to me Yeah, we did it. I mean I'm I did it because we were there at the Dominance media day a couple weeks ago and They got you know they have who did it there was like gas them there was all of those yeah gaslam that I mean they had Marlon Gagee and Edgar, Frankie Edgar, like all these, Garbrand, like all these guys. And we literally just saw Cody, I'm sorry, okay, Corey. Just standing.
Starting point is 00:28:02 Standing, no one's, someone's talking and we're like, whoa, we're here. I guess we might as well talk to him. And so we talked to him. He's just like, far, fire, fire, oh, you know, 50. I didn't draw, I didn't, I didn't decline 50 fights. I was like, you know, fucking 50 bitches, you know. He, like, he just dropped these, like, these lines, like, oh, my goodness. Yeah, he's like, he's exact, and I apologize for language.
Starting point is 00:28:23 If you don't like language, pause it now. But he was like, because we were at UFC 240 at that press conference. Dan White said, Corey Anderson turned down 50 fights. And then like four days later, all of a sudden this announced he's booked against Johnny Walker. And I said, was this a coincidence or was he just trying to get to fight Johnny Walker? And he just wants me to get him to fight Johnny Walker. And I didn't turn down 50 fights. That's like me coming back from Summer Camp and saying, I fucked 50 bitches.
Starting point is 00:28:49 But in reality, I fucked the same one 49 times. And now it's the 50th. I turned Johnny Walker down 49 times. Now we're fighting the 50th time. So that's what he said. It was very aggressive and very angry, but that was the most very angry man. And he turned it down simply because it was on behind him. And every fighter wants to bite someone in front of you.
Starting point is 00:29:08 And of course, it's not only that it was behind him, but it's a dangerous guy that's behind him as well. And he said he's like, the UFC wants me to lose. They're not, even if I win, they're not going to give him a title fight. And they want Johnny Walker to beat me. and then he's going to all of a sudden go from like 11 to 5 and then fight the number of the champions. So I know what they're trying to do right now. I know that Corey Anderson is not a happy man as far as what's going on around him as far as, you know, he feels extremely disrespected by the media, the fans.
Starting point is 00:29:36 I mean, he goes after fans on Twitter. Like he'll, he's not afraid of. That's a, yeah, dude, post and pictures of bow hunting and people are arguing. Yeah. But I got to say, this whole experience that he's been going through that's not really good. and he feels very angry about, it's been so good for him. Yeah. It's fueled them.
Starting point is 00:29:56 Like, we talk about, for example, Roy McDonald having that anger that's fueled him. Yeah, it's not a positive force, but boy, has it gotten him far. But then he apologized. But that's part of him because it's someone that's conflicted that's dealing with all this anger. But at the end of the day, he's, he's, at heart, he's, I feel like he's, uh, he's a good guy. I'm apologizing.
Starting point is 00:30:14 Yeah, same here. His beef wasn't with Johnny Walker. His beef is with the other fighters. His beef is with the UFC. With this situation, yeah. It's just someone that's really frustrated. Yeah, I think he built out bad just as a competitor to kind of trash John Walker. I think that's what it was more about.
Starting point is 00:30:30 But I think, but that anger ain't gone. He ain't gonna be, you know? Yeah. But are you sold? I'm sold. Are you sold? John Jones, Anderson has to happen. Yeah, now I want to see it.
Starting point is 00:30:41 Because I can see that conflict. I can see those back and forth. And also, I like the fact that John Jones is kind of dismissing him. I want to see it even more because it's like, all right, well, you know, you're Clearly, they've been dismissing this guy and he's been proving everybody wrong. All right, let's see what's up. And I think, two days ago, I didn't think that was a competitive fight. The Corey Anderson I saw yesterday, dude, I don't know.
Starting point is 00:31:03 That's a... He's turned a corner. There's something different in his style, you know? Remember the last time Dana White said a fighter was a needle mover? Who fought in the main event in that same card. So it seems we're all on board here with John Jones, Corey Anderson. I don't really care if it's a quarterback. I don't think he should be raised.
Starting point is 00:31:22 I don't care which one of this. I don't think you should be raised. If you ask me what I would like, I would choose Corey Anderson. I would choose Corey Anderson. Yeah. So sorry. Corey Anderson is an older fighter. He's been putting a massive amount of work.
Starting point is 00:31:35 So it kind of feels right that at this stage of his career, he gets the title shot. Whereas Ray is, yeah, he's done a lot to deserve the title shot, but I think he still has a little bit of maturity and a little bit more, you know, as far as getting a little bit more experience. And his biggest way- actually know who he is still. Yeah. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:31:52 And he's still, his last fight, he's still being unranked to a fiver. Well, the other thing that actually think, I think really works as a star making conflict is that guys are finally,
Starting point is 00:32:05 fighters are finally realizing, actually coming into conflict with the UFC and management has a tendency to bring your profile up. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That's an excellent point.
Starting point is 00:32:15 When people start to fight with Dana, like how Nate feuded with Dana and how Conner feuded with Dana, And I'm like, that brings your profile up. Covington. Teeter Ortiz. Like, that brings your profile up. Fighting with your boss is like the oldest. Stoke.
Starting point is 00:32:27 Like, look at, who's the most popular wrestler of all time, professional wrestler of all time? Stokel and Steve Austin. Yeah. And that's all he is. The oldest story, right? And it's something that everybody can identify with. And so I think that's what people are finally like, yeah, you guys have been totally shab- Say it as to.
Starting point is 00:32:42 Yeah. You could fuck him over. Yeah. You know, treat Coriandis and better. People are actually on his side now. And I like it. Yeah. And hopefully he gets it because, again, he's putting in the work.
Starting point is 00:32:53 And it's a unique storyline. The problem with the Reyes, too. I mean, unfortunately, you know, this is prize fighting, it's entertainment. There's no story on Reyes other than he's winning. Yeah. Really? I mean, is there a story on him? No.
Starting point is 00:33:05 I mean, I like that he's a 19 professional, but that's just because I'm not. Yeah, that's how he. That's true. I was about to say. That's what they're going to start. But Corey, yeah. Corey's got a story. No, they can sell.
Starting point is 00:33:13 Yeah. So let's see if, yeah. Someone else I quickly want to talk about. And I was super shocked to see his performance. Kevin Lee. My God, just destroying Gregor Gillespie, taking his undefeated record and just throwing it as far as he possibly could. Right there. Perfect that reenactment.
Starting point is 00:33:32 My God, he really needed this win, man. He really needed it because his back was against the wall. And it almost felt like a lot of people were saying he was just hype. Like he talked his way into a title shot. This whole, I'm going to have a challenge, Khabib. It just seems so far away now. But then you see him going with Farras Ahabia, you see him having that kind of performance and you go, wait a minute, there might, there could very well be another chapter to this, to this guy's career. Yeah, and people really discounted how important Robert Follas was to his life.
Starting point is 00:34:01 And I really don't think, um. His life, not just even his fighting. Right, his life. People don't also, um, one of the factors people don't consider is your mental health. I mean, that's got, had to have had a major impact on him. and of course it was going to take him time to recover. Of course, it took him time to regroup. You know, he had to find his new camp.
Starting point is 00:34:21 He had to find a new coach. He had to find a new mentor. So that's a lot to go through. Yeah. I was, that knockout. Dude, like, great job in the UFC production with the, like, the little GoPro cam on all the announcers and Megan O'Levy doing her. And, like, I think you see Mick Mainer just like, oh, I love the Joe Rogan's reaction.
Starting point is 00:34:42 Yeah, Joe's like, oh, Joe's like, oh. It was like, wait, this happened with the edibles, just like really going hard, I don't know. And like, it was just like, that's just, that was like the perfect photo for a meme of, uh, these, these edibles ain't shit. 30 minutes later. And I love just like, it's like all the, the whole panel, like that was kind of our reactions. You were one of those people. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:35:05 Yeah. And it was, oh my God, that knockout. Beautiful. That was my reaction too. I actually, I, I was. Oh, you got a badass photo too. Yeah. Foot to the face.
Starting point is 00:35:14 Insert photo now. Yeah. You are looking at a photo of Esther Lynn, ladies and gentlemen at this very moment. Is that the best headkick knockouts since Holly Holm? Over Rhonda? The left head kick, yeah. I think that one, the Shevchenko I. That's the one I was missing.
Starting point is 00:35:33 I knew something was. We talked about that in the post-fight show. And I was like, hmm, nothing comes to mind. Yeah, when freaking Valentino Shoshchenko. Jesus. Yeah. Yeah, that's right up there as far as, like, you know, a high-level performance, you know, against a top contender, too. There have been good knockouts and it's kind of a lower pre-limb fights, but as far as, like, you know, high-level fights.
Starting point is 00:35:53 And especially in the storyline coming to that, because, like, who saw, like, that was like, ooh, who's going to wrestling? Yeah. I was like, I think Kevin Lee's going to take him down and get better top control, you know? Yeah. When it's two wrestlers fighting, it's never about the wrestling. All I can remember is when Maxis fought. Okay. You're completely right about that.
Starting point is 00:36:13 But then it's not about the wrestling, but then it becomes about shady striking and boring striker. That was not shady or boring. That was super cool. Kevin Lee is a complete MMA fighter. Kevin Lee is a complete M.A fighter. I mean, fought for a championship, interim championship against Tony Ferguson. He looked great against Tony before he got submitted from the bottom. And he had like staff on his chest and all that stuff.
Starting point is 00:36:32 And then he came up short to Iyakinta. But he beat the soul out of Edson Barbosa, which he said, which is kind of sad. The last time he heard Robert Follos's. his voice in his head and he was talking himself during the fight and I wanted to ask him like when did that end but I didn't get the opportunity so I mean he fought for a championship and we're talking about like Johnny Walker and Daryntill getting kind of thrown into the deep end but Greg Gillespie who did he fight last the answer Medeiros and before that it was like Vince Pichel like Vince Pichel that's how he pronounced name like those guys weren't ranked and all of
Starting point is 00:37:05 sudden they're throwing him against Kevin Lee who has fought for a championship and beaten top contenders and then he's like there's levels to this. But Glesby was the actual favorite coming into the fight. Which was weird to me coming in. Like it just I mean it didn't make sense to me. The thing was just because he's undefeated. Yeah. But that and also we saw the dominating just in doming in dominating fashion. And we saw a lot of holes in Kevin Lee's game when he fought RDA. When he fought Al-Aquinta like his wrestling is good, but there was something they're missing that he couldn't put together and eventually he would gas out and in and blossom. But the experience level is so much higher. So much higher.
Starting point is 00:37:36 Yeah, and his competition level was so much higher. And his competition level was like compared, it's not, I mean, but that's why you make the fight. Lee was that's what the test, that's what the test was. And the test was and Lee won that test, you know, like, and I loved this matchmaking. I loved like prospects versus Lee's a veteran, a young veteran, you know, he's a young veteran. You know, he's still, he had his prime and we think he's like, we, we, like to Corey Anderson, like we've seen him get knocked out. and those images sticking your head. And that's, it kind of,
Starting point is 00:38:07 and it really messes up your analysis sometime of what's going to happen. Yeah. And I think your perspective. Yeah. The entire fighter's career. You think that those four minutes of their life that we saw, like, oh, that's the rest of the career. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:38:19 But it's not. Everyone reinvents themselves. Like look at Justin Gagey. Gets crushed back-to-back fights, and now he's absorbed less stripes in the last three fights than he has in the first round against Michael Johnson. Yeah. Does Gillespie come back a better fighter?
Starting point is 00:38:33 Yeah, I mean is he is he do are we gonna see him in the top ten top five is he I think so I think when you look at his Performances eventually maybe eventually not not directly but I mean like you know yeah I think so He's such a good wrestler all he has to do is clean up his striking maybe a little bit more yeah I think I think he could I think he's only now 11 fights in that's that's nothing and fighting in the UFC I think he has what it takes to this is the first time he's really been hurt yeah hurt bad yeah He's not like he was taking damage the other fights Did he, I have to see the fight again, did he even, did they even engage?
Starting point is 00:39:08 Did they even, like, or was it strictly? No, it was strictly. They were strictly. He was a lot of me. That uppercut that he, like, he threw an uppercut that he missed. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. It's like, I just, yeah, I really wonder why, I mean, I guess when you left, when he feels like,
Starting point is 00:39:24 no, speaking of the media, it would be really interesting what the game plan was, was he, oh, once he hit him once, then, oh, okay, but that's Gregor's thing, is there is no game plan. Like he will never, like, I've interviewed him before. I was at his fight against Vince Pritchell in Utica, and he will absolutely not talk about his opponents. He doesn't watch tape, and he doesn't care what they do. The coaches do it, and then the coaches get him ready.
Starting point is 00:39:48 But he doesn't go in with a game plan whatsoever. Like, that is his thing. He won't even look at his opponents in the eye. He won't talk about it. He won't think about him. He just focused on himself. That was his thing last week. Yeah, what's his thing going to be coming forward?
Starting point is 00:40:00 Because, like, now everything's different. Right now he's been on that side. And we've seen he's someone that can make changes. I mean, for the majority of his career, he wasn't down to call anybody out. And all of a sudden, he's called out king and eating, what is it, weedies, dry weaids and all this. So he's a guy that can change. If he was able to change that, I'm sure he'll be more than willing to change his approach to adjust. It wasn't whatever he needs to do.
Starting point is 00:40:23 I was talking to you at the media stare-downs. When they squared off, I had not realized it would really be the first fighter that would kind of maybe poke. Gregor Gillespie, like, kind of antagonize him, like, because everyone else, like, he just, like, stares at the floor, and their opponents just, like, stare at his forehead, but, like, Kevin Lee would, like, get under, and, like, when they turn to face the media, like, Kevin Lee kept looking at him, like,
Starting point is 00:40:46 I had not realized that that was really the first time Greg Gillespie really had maybe an antagonist, and it was just weird to think about. Like, I'm like, yeah, he's a great fighter, but he's never had a rival, like that. On our last topic, Christos. What would you like to know, okay, sir? There's a serious laugh at high rate.
Starting point is 00:41:09 You guys want the cheesiest transition in the world? Do you want this cheesiest transition? Go, go, go, go. This crystal is heavy. So I think it is important to talk about the heavyweight division. I want to mix in, no, seriously, no, seriously. I want to mix in this topic. We've been talking about individual bouts.
Starting point is 00:41:29 Let's mix in what happened at USC 244 as far. heavyweights. Oh yeah. The heavyweight division for some time it was a little bit of a dud. It seemed like all these old names were just getting recycled and we're getting, you know, rematches and rematches and rematches and trilogies and we almost went to like four or five fights, right, with the same guys. But man, you got Ghana, right, Cyril Ghana coming up. Say what you want about Greg Hardy, but he's coming up as well. Jairzino Rosenstruck destroying, you know, Andrea Erlowski. Derek Lewis has had a reinvention with his knee surgery and we clearly saw him much more improved. For instance, in Ghana, who also had a reinvention, all of a sudden, the
Starting point is 00:42:05 heavyweight division, man, it is a lot of fun. Yeah. And it'll be interesting because Moscow's coming up, so we'll get to see how Wolkoff does. And I feel like there was someone recently. Volkov, he's right there too. Yeah, he's like, yeah. So yeah, no, it's been, it's been good to see people coming back into heavyweight. And it's nice to see Derek Lewis, just kind of how being more in shape is helping him. Yeah. So, I mean, we, we saw him shoot for a takedown. the last time you saw him shoot for a takedown, right? And it seemed, he just looked a lot more mobile. He looked to have a lot of bigger gas tank.
Starting point is 00:42:39 You mentioned an interesting stat. He threw 37 strikes. 37 strikes. All of them were significant. Yeah. Like, yeah, can you match? If Derek Lewis looks at you, that's like, oh, that's significant strike. I'm like, oh, okay, you win that one.
Starting point is 00:42:53 Talk about Ivanov's chin, man. I tweeted something from the MA fighting account. Like, Derek Lewis is hitting him with cinder blocks. And then, like, a minute later, I just replied on the thread again. Because he was just like, dude, that guy's chin is ridiculous. His eyes were bleeding at the end of that fight. Like, he had, like, pools of blood from his eyeballs. So he's also been stabbed in the back.
Starting point is 00:43:15 So I wasn't surprised that Derek Lewis hitting him with, like, a fist the size of lunchboxes wouldn't put him away. What do you think is next for Derek Lewis, man? I mean, did they want to do the rematch of Francis Gano? Honestly, I feel like that's a thing. I feel bad for Francis. Like, he deserves the title shot. Yeah, but he deserves it, but he doesn't want to wait. It's a big, but he doesn't.
Starting point is 00:43:37 He's like, I want him. He wanted to fight in Moscow. All right. Okay. I wouldn't mind that only because they need to run that back just so that people stopped thinking that that was the worst fight ever. Yeah. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:43:47 That was, that was, that original fight, Lewis versus Ngano won, maybe the worst heavyweight fight. At least like a main event. Yeah. The co-man event. Co-main event. Oh, man. But that was just just,
Starting point is 00:44:01 like a series of unfortunate events. You know? Francis is basically having a mental breakdown coming out and then Derek Lewis having a bad back and just like, all right, hope he doesn't hit me. Francis,
Starting point is 00:44:13 I think France wants to write that shit because he lost. Like people forget Francis lost that on the judge's scorecard. So if there's a fight he would want to run it back, I think that would be one just because he wants to erase that L. But Curtis Blades called out Derek Lewis.
Starting point is 00:44:25 He's like, I'll fight. I'll take you. He's like, you thought Daniel Cormini who whipped that ass? Like, I'll do it faster. So, Kurtz Blaze is, I don't even think you mentioned Chris Blaze when we were talking about the Heard's Blase. And he's like, I watch that.
Starting point is 00:44:36 Uber oppressive. And it's interesting because I really do want to see that, Francis Ngano, Derek Lewis, because as you mentioned, Francis and Gano came in with a lot of issues that were just mentally, he just wasn't in the fight. And we knew that Derek Lewis had some back issues, but it looked like he was willing to engage and he was, I mean, a lot of hate was directed towards Francis and Gano
Starting point is 00:44:57 and not Derek Lewis from that performance. I feel like, given where they are now, and gotten with all the confidence in the world right now and Derek Lewis with a nice healthy knee and a good back I mean I don't want to jinx it but that's a fight but I think I want that fight happen
Starting point is 00:45:13 I still think Derek Lewis was going to fight Greg Hardy next regardless of the performance winner winner losing his own mind seeing that he wants to fight that guy so bad he was talking about fighting him before he was even in the UFC because you know Derek Lewis's history and he wants to fight individuals who also have that history but on the opposite side So he said all that stuff about Travis Brown that kind of put him
Starting point is 00:45:35 That made them all popular and So I think that fight will happen win or lose Because he said he would be paying attention to that fight Even if he's not awake He said if I'm awake and it's over I'll watch But that probably won't be the case But I'll go back and watch it because he wants to fight He goes what's his name?
Starting point is 00:45:51 George Greg George Hardy I'll fight that guy Yeah I guess Vokhov Hardy and the steep A DC rematch Is that been Is that official? It hasn't been official, but both fighters, I believe, said that that's what's next, and Dana said that's what's saying. I don't think it has a date yet, but... Overing still leaves an opponent. Overeign.
Starting point is 00:46:12 And Jairzino told us in the scrum that he's down for that. That sounds like it's coming on Overeign if he's going to accept that because... I think Overeen would take it. That's a much different matchup than Walt Harris. I think Overeign would take that fight, though. He's a guy that's... Even when he loses, he says he wants to get... right back in because he just likes to compete.
Starting point is 00:46:31 So, like, who did he fight on the Beijing card? Overim? He was, like, to call me, I can't remember his last name. I can't remember. I can't remember. I can't perjee. Yeah, he was like the guy's UFC debut. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:46:45 And he had been killing it outside of the UFC. It seemed like this was it. Like, Overeem, it was nice meeting you. Here's your, you know, here's your run as a contender. Next thing you know. Yeah, he's over in. And over him. And over he's back.
Starting point is 00:46:57 I also think I read somewhere that that's the, the biggest disparity in fighter pay because Overim made like $800,000 and Surgy made like 20 a re-bought fight kid. Yeah. And it was in Beijing so no one watched it. It was like the Komiant event for Curtis Blades and Gano. So Overeem
Starting point is 00:47:13 doesn't really have an issue. Take it. He wanted to fight Francis Ngano. When Francis Gano was on the Still Rising, he was like, I want to fight Francis next. Because that's the guy that everyone says the next big thing. I want to test myself. He gets knocked out and he goes fair play to him. I just want to fight again. And he did and he won. Yeah. So I think would take that fight just for the competition.
Starting point is 00:47:31 Plus, both of them have, like, their, like, long kickboxing record. Oh, yeah, the kickboxing, yeah. A lot of kickboxing record. I believe both of them have trained with Tyron Spong in the past, so the story's there. I'm down to watch a glory fight and so I have an octagon. I'm down, sign me up. With tiny gloves. Tiny gloves.
Starting point is 00:47:53 Oh, wait, you're going to take it out. In a tiny octagon, a tiny octagon. Maybe, yeah. Yeah. It just seems the heavier division is just a lot of fun right now. It kind of sucks for Francis and Ghanu, but I mean we have to see that trilogy fight. It's just, it just has to be booked, I think. Yeah, actually I think overall, I feel all the divisions are kind of like recovering from
Starting point is 00:48:12 stagnation. Yeah, there was kind of like when Connor came in and kind of decided he was going to go for multiple belts and all this stuff and like things just started like that kind of attitude like split into the other divisions. So everything was just kind of slowing down. And so now we're finally seeing things pick back up, and it's good. It really makes you appreciate champions like Max Holloway and John Jones, who are like, I'll fight next man up.
Starting point is 00:48:36 Yeah. You say and John Jones? Well, John's saying the last few fighters. Staying in their division and not trying to bounce around. John Jones, I think that's always, oh, with John John. I think there's new getting money. Sure. John Jones is a slightly different, but.
Starting point is 00:48:52 Well, I'm saying, like, his last three fights have all been against the number one contender at my heavyweight, like, regardless of whether he'd make money. You think he was thinking about making money against Anthony Smith? He's making money. He's making money. But now he wants superfights. Who knows? Someone else I want to talk about because we completely missed them on our post-fights show,
Starting point is 00:49:11 even when we're like, oh, do you have anybody you would like to highlight? Stephen Wonderboy Thompson, he's back, right? What a vintage performance, you know, destroying Vicente Lucke, who everybody thought that was going to be like the next guy. He could be, but just not yet. to me, it wasn't a vintage performance. It was like almost a more aggressive, new, like, I don't want to say angry,
Starting point is 00:49:32 because I don't know if Stephen Wonderboard's ever angry. It was, but it was like, he was like angry and Stephen Thompson, those two don't. Yeah, yeah, it's just like, he's. Even how afterwards he was like, I was hoping if I lost it all ideas, so it could be the nice guy versus the mean guy.
Starting point is 00:49:47 I was, I was just really impressed. I was like, because I figure, you know, because his game is so very fast reflexes, fast Twitch, you know, it's like he's 36. Eventually, he's about to turn 37. I mean, he's one, wonder man just sounds weird. Yeah, I was like, wow. It's like, I guess one.
Starting point is 00:50:05 Yeah, I was like, coming off a huge knockout loss. It just seemed like this was the decline for him. And he had those questions as well. He's like, because I asked him in the post-fight press conference, I'm like, he said, you know, you start getting those questions. Like, do I, am I slowing down? Do I still have it? And I'm like, well, how much was riding into this fight?
Starting point is 00:50:22 Like, how much was writing into this fight? as far as your future's concerned, and he's like a lot, a lot. It just felt like he needed this when to show either, I'm still here and I can put something together or, you know, his better days were over. Yeah, it was impressive. Also, because I had picked Lucke, and I just, he was on his way up. Lucke's been just on a tear, and so I thought, well, this is time. But after like the, like, a couple seconds into the first round, I was like, oh, he doesn't,
Starting point is 00:50:48 Lucke doesn't seem to know what to do, actually. He seemed puzzled. Yeah. So immediately, I was like, this is changing. And it was really weird, actually, when people were questioning Stephen Thompson. I actually just wanted to bring this up because it confused me about him backing off. Because Tyrone Woodley had already said in previous fights that when he was planning to fight Stephen Thompson, he realized that Stephen Thompson can't fight when your back is against the cage.
Starting point is 00:51:15 That's when he backs up. Because he needs a certain amount of distance and he can't kick the fence. you know so he actually doesn't really go that hard when you're when your back is up against events and so it was weird how people were like oh why did you back up like trying to like i don't know accuse him of not trying to finish the fight or whatever but it just seemed like luke uh and maybe his coaches just didn't go back and look at how tyrant would leave just because maybe those fights weren't very exciting um so they're not exciting to study but he definitely had the right idea on how to counter that
Starting point is 00:51:51 First fight was really exciting. Yeah. That was the draw. I think it was the second one. It was exciting. It was the end. Yeah. It was fighting in the night.
Starting point is 00:51:59 One of the best. You got caught in that guillotine and still popped out and finished the round on top. Yeah. I would hate it. I mean, I still, I didn't hate either fight either fight. I appreciated the second fight. Yeah. No, I actually didn't.
Starting point is 00:52:11 I actually liked the fights. From my perspective, I got enough photos, so I mean, I'm selfish. I thought it was fine. But I just, it was, it looked, Stephen Thompson, and looked really good. He, he were saying, like, there is the part of him
Starting point is 00:52:25 that's a kind of vintage performance, but also the part of him that's definitely more aggressive. It's better to see him this way because he was a little too, what's the word? Lost it. Do you need more coffee?
Starting point is 00:52:39 Here. Hold on to the first. He might help rub it a little bit. Okay. You just seem really hesitant before. Okay. You know. Hey.
Starting point is 00:52:48 Give me that. All right. So, God. It seems to me, and I could be wrong about this, I don't know if you guys feel the same way, but after those two Tyron Woodley performances, especially the last one that was kind of boring, and he wasn't able to capture the World War II title,
Starting point is 00:53:04 there was a lot of Stephen Wonderboy Thompson fatigue as far as the title picture. Once that was over, it's just like, that dude's never getting a title shot again. That's what it felt like, especially when Tyron Woodley was the champion. Now that that's changed, the belt is in different hands.
Starting point is 00:53:19 We've seen sort of this new version of Stephen Wonderboy Thompson, is there a possibility for him to make another run and actually fight for the belt again? Sure. Yeah, sure. I mean, I, and not only as far as what it makes sense in the rankings, but from fan interest, do you think that's, that's there? Fan interest is different, because it's, like I said, it's about, it's about storylines. That's dictating a lot nowadays. Yeah, what interest? I think it depends on where Mazzolo wants the championship. I know Mazzvedal wants all of his losses back. So he, like, Mazvedal's like, I want to fight. Damien Amir said he has two fights,
Starting point is 00:53:51 and Horri Masel says he wants to be one of them. Like, who's calling out Damian Maya for one of his last few fights? The guy that won't a BMF championship who wants to fight Damian Maya. He wants to win the belt and then defend it against Maya. May I forget?
Starting point is 00:54:02 No, that was actually the post-fight press conference. Wow, how are those guys not fought? Yeah. Exactly. To talk about drastic contrast. But, like, in terms of Damien, like, imagine. It could be horrible or awesome.
Starting point is 00:54:14 Imagine. Imagine a timeline where Horry Mazel wins the BMF championship and then he wins the Welterweight championship. and then he fights Damien Maya, and then Damien Maya beats him again, wins the championship, and then just retires. Dana White would be like,
Starting point is 00:54:29 this is, Dana White would have a heart attack. He would. He would. I mean, I just have a, yeah. I don't think that, if you want to speak, pass it wrong, past the Christ, right? Damien Maya, for him to get that first title shot
Starting point is 00:54:45 against Tyron Woodley, it was not under the best circumstances. He didn't really get a big heads up and it just felt very forced. Yeah. Oh, yeah. I would love to see him get another shot. I mean, if he gets a few more wins. He's three wins in a row, right?
Starting point is 00:54:58 He's clearly, yeah, he's looking good. And that Ben Ascgren fight was good as well, so especially beating a guy with that big of a name. So, yeah, we'll see what's next for it. I can see Maya Wonderboy winner getting a title shot. By the time everything pans out. But then we were talking a lot about this welterweight division. We were just talking about Mosphal versus Ustner Covington.
Starting point is 00:55:18 And no one's talking about Leon Edwards. This guy's only the longest win. street outside of Kamar Usman and the only person he's lost. He's lost. Now that you mention him, Leon Edwards versus Wonder Boy Thompson. Leon Edwards versus Tyron Woodley. I don't hate it. I don't hate that as well.
Starting point is 00:55:32 I want that fight to happen because if Leon Edwards beats Tyne Woodley, he has to get a title shot. Yeah. Or as Horace, what is Horace? No, Colby Cullen calls him like Leon Scott, which I think is almost hilarious. You know what's crazy is that in so many ways Leon Edwards is part of, you know, part of this whole thing. This whole thing, I mean, UFC 24, right, three piece in the soda, Mr. 305, he's, he was a big piece of this whole puzzle. He was a stepping stone to him, but nobody talks about it. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:56:02 It's crazy. And he, because he just fought for the first time in the United States, didn't he? Or, like, went a long time. What he, he last fought was against, he'd be already in San Antonio. Already in San Antonio. But before that, didn't he fight, Camaro in the States? I think he was. Yeah, and that was his, that was his, that was his,
Starting point is 00:56:20 last loss. So, uh, left elbow Larry, as he calls himself. Fans haven't got behind him. It's because he fall in the UK for so much. So did he feel like he almost has to take. Let me, I mean, it's clear he, there,
Starting point is 00:56:35 and look, I respect every fighter that gets in the cage and you go about your business is how you want to go about it. He's a Corey Anderson performance. That's where I was just going to, not only Corey Anderson performance, but Corey Anderson attitude. Like it feels, it feels like, look, Corey Anderson was in the same situation where, picking up wins, not getting attention, and all of a sudden he is. It almost feels like he has to do that, right?
Starting point is 00:56:55 It sucks, but like... And honestly, he's going to have to sleep someone in a big fight. And, like, he dominated RDA, but do you remember anything from that fight? Like, after, you know, a couple weeks go by, I remember he won. And that's about it. And I don't remember, you know, I don't remember, like, no, 10-8, Halleatious beating. Not that, not that wasn't an awesome win, but it's just... That's just way it works.
Starting point is 00:57:16 Do you remember the press comments for that UFC London? where Leon Edwards fought Gunner Nelson. The whole press cons... Is it the one where Masvedo was asking for the Wi-Fi? Yeah. Because the whole press conference, Lion Edwards and Darren Till were arguing the whole time, and no one asked Jorge Masval a question. And then we saw what happened.
Starting point is 00:57:34 So, like, Leon Edwards has literally been right there the whole time. And he's just not getting his fair shake. It's a bummer that he's on this one streak, and the World's League Division all of a sudden has this, this, like, group of misfits that are all just, like, screaming at each other. And I was like, hey, I have a bunch of wins. But you gotta, like, I think Masvedal said too,
Starting point is 00:57:56 like you gotta take it too. Like you gotta, you gotta tell the USC, fly me out in New York, let me in front of those, give me in front of the cameras, put me, put me ring side, cage side. When that fight happens, I'm standing up going, no, me next, you know? It's like, I mean, I hate to say, like, if it's out of character, it might be out of character,
Starting point is 00:58:14 but like, Henry Seudo kind of admitted that. It's like, okay, I'm just gonna be a fool, and that's what people are. want to see. I think what limit. And even if the UFC doesn't do that for him, look what Jimmy Manuel did when, who was the fighting? It was Daniel Kormier versus Anthony Johnson.
Starting point is 00:58:28 Anthony Johnson. Like, he's like, I've got to take matters into my own hands. And the wins weren't there for him for him to get that. But nonetheless, I remember, I mean, I'm talking about it right now. I remember there was an image even. DC and Jimmy were yelling at him. D.C. were yelling at each other and made fun of him for coming in a, like, a track suit, right? And you know what Daniel Korme said?
Starting point is 00:58:46 He goes, Jimmy, I love you. But you just beat Corey and. That's what Daniel Korn. Those are, that's exactly goes. You just be like, I like Corey, but you just beat Corey Anderson. And now look where we're happening. Someone else that comes to mind, Ryan Bader, you know, not the most exciting performances, but as soon as he got on DC's face at that press conference and he had to get carried out,
Starting point is 00:59:06 it made headlines, it made news and it got his name, you know, in the mix. Then he ended up going about. I think what Leon Edwards has going for him is, do you remember the first guest fighter scrum that Horan Lott Was that U.S.C. Uruguay and Guy was there and we have that scrum and he goes, I don't know what's going to happen, but I'm going to erase that fools from the existence of the earth. Like that's what Jorge Mazumel said about Leon Edwards. So if the beef is there and you want a storyline, Jorge Maduro goes, it might not be next, but I'm going to kill that guy. It seemed that that fight for like a split second, you mentioned Mazvidal was kind of mentioning his name. You go, okay, do we have something here?
Starting point is 00:59:43 But now it just seems so far away. I thought that was going to be for sure. if Kamar would fall Colby in New York City I thought for sure Horrid Malice was going to be the co-made event and then Nate Diaz was like
Starting point is 00:59:54 I'm fighting Horri Montezov I was like forget the thing I don't know let's fight inject that fight into my veins
Starting point is 00:59:59 yeah it was just too easy for him to get passed over in that case yeah there's no outcry there was a point when that seemed
Starting point is 01:00:09 like the logical next step but in the same way that Nate doesn't want to make other people famous I think Mosvedol realized he's like
Starting point is 01:00:16 wait I've got more shine right I'm lending it. I mean, just every single interview, he refuses. He calls the fool with the MAGA hat, the guy that wears the weird African clothing, right? Or he says this from Africa. The guy with a curly hair. He does not mention anybody by name and warns the media before the scrums.
Starting point is 01:00:36 Do not bring anybody up because he knows the moment he inserts the name, people are going to start going to goling. Oh wait, who is Ben Asking? Who is so and so? And not only that, but the media runs headlines. Oh, what do you think about this guy? This guy sucks. Next thing you know. Yeah.
Starting point is 01:00:49 And, you know, then there's buzz for a fight. Yeah. I did that at 241. He came back and wanted everybody. And he pointed at a specific report. He goes, don't ask this. Or I'm gone. Don't ruin it for your brother.
Starting point is 01:01:01 He'll break your camera in there. He's like, don't ruin this for your coworkers. First question. People are like, oh. It's crazy. It all comes back full circle to the main event. Crazy, crazy week. What did Sean once say?
Starting point is 01:01:19 but what time is indeed a flat circle. Last thing before we go, I want to ask me is because at this point you guys are basically like historians because you guys have experienced so much and so many events. Something that's not being talked about enough is that for the first time we saw a belt that's not the real world title. And I feel like because it was so much fun, it's kind of being forgotten, but it's unprecedented and it could very well set not some ugly trends in the future, but it could be problematic, right?
Starting point is 01:01:47 Do you see it that way or would this be just like a little point in time that this just happened and it will have no repercussions moving forward? No, I don't know if they're going to something else will happen. Because it's going to be similar to this. I feel like that you've low-key had something in mind because even they put one of one on the belt, you know? They were worried that people would demand this be defended and that kind of stuff. So I think that actually they kind of stop that. By saying one-of-one? No, no.
Starting point is 01:02:18 Now, this will show them. It's fair. They always, it's so funny, they're always worried about being compared to boxing, but then that's what they did for. Mamick. The money belt. One time money belt thing. But the difference there is that that was on boxing, on boxing's terms.
Starting point is 01:02:33 This is on MMA. Yeah, so it does feel weird that they did it, but I actually don't think it's going to set off any kind of, only because I can only imagine Mossvedal and Nate Diaz competing for. I know we had a big discussion this week about who else. would be considered a BMF or a bad motherfucker, but also I think that it doesn't really, it's weird because people are like, oh, how can you be a bad motherfucker
Starting point is 01:02:57 if you lost half your fights or whatever? I was like, but that's part of it. That's part of it. And there isn't going to be those kinds of characters anymore. I remember Ben Folks once wrote a thing about how we're going to miss Nick and Nate Diaz when they're gone. We are because there isn't going to be that same kind of honesty
Starting point is 01:03:13 in media, the way they talk to us. the fact that they just kind of say whatever they want, they just tell us their feelings. And that's them. That's not a character. Right. It's them. It's not a character.
Starting point is 01:03:23 And that's why this belt was for that. Because you wouldn't be able to give that kind of title to anybody else. And I don't actually think that this is going to set anything else off. But I could be wrong. You know what's going to do. Jorge Mottesville's already since he's one is using hashtag one of one. That's all he's been using. I've seen Jeremy Stevens been calling out for,
Starting point is 01:03:47 who wants to fight that bell Mike Perry really like the idea of fighting that for that belt so pro wrestling yeah so pro wrestling yeah you guys are pro wrestling fans you got a oh you guys are pro wrestling fans you have no idea you just don't even know you're telling me the rock putting a fake belt around someone is pro wrestling oh get out of here even had you mean dude Dana even said at the presser he goes he goes johnny walker got a pop yeah you got a big pop i was like oh but he's like oh but cori ended he went over this full entrance too. You guys weren't in the arena, right? Oh my God.
Starting point is 01:04:21 Like, he came out and... Was that the loudest I got for the whole night? Or... That's a good question. It was up there. It was pretty loud. It was legit. He also, like, because when the rock...
Starting point is 01:04:33 I've seen the rock wrestle, like, way too many times in my life. When he walks out, there's, like, specific lighting and color. And they have, like, a camera that, like, comes down on, like, I don't know what... I'm not a camera person, but it comes down on, like, a crane. and then it like zooms out and then like rotates at an angle and it comes back at him. They did all of that.
Starting point is 01:04:52 They did all. They showed it on the Jumotron. It was the lights were the same. The music was the same. They had lightning on the Jumbotron. And then like he stops and lifts the belts up and all of a sudden I'm like, they're going to do that camera thing. And it's like, like, whoa.
Starting point is 01:05:07 They went all out for this one. Awesome. What a bizarre night. Happy night. All right. Well. I think that does it for us here. We want to connect powers.
Starting point is 01:05:19 We got through UFC 244. It was a wild, wild week, but we got through it in. Giorzino is now on Team Crystal, by the way. We didn't talk about that. Makwaan Marikani, suffered a loss. Also Team Crystal, how do you feel about that? I mean, clearly not enough pirating around him. Maybe needed bigger stone, yeah.
Starting point is 01:05:39 Bigger Stone. He used to link up with Jared Cannoneer, man. Jared Kenner is Captain Crystal. Yeah. Maybe unlock some of the power. to the universe. Let's wrap this out, but one last thing to become Jared Cananeer.
Starting point is 01:05:52 UFC, start using the damn hoop at the way it is. For real. At the way is. Use the damn hoop at the way. I saw way too much weight cut penis. Way too much. I was sitting behind you and I just saw you go, oh.
Starting point is 01:06:08 Yeah, the whole lot of after you. Dude, Jerich Karen Neer didn't give a fuck. And then he did an interview with the submission radio lads and they were like, Do you think they should use the hoop? He goes, they had a hoop, and they go, yeah, he goes, I don't get a fuck about that. They used the entire hoop all morning.
Starting point is 01:06:22 They used it in there. For Kelvin and Jerry. Kelvin, oh, geez. And both of those guys did not care. It was like, I was like, there's so many cameras. These are all live. All of these cameras are live. If the New York State Athletic Commission would have used the hoop on Kelvin Gasselm,
Starting point is 01:06:34 we might have not seen Kelvin Gasselm versus Darren Till. I have that fight. It's still what happened. You need on the hook. You just want to be a bit, wait. But, yeah, it's been different. The storyline had been different. Yeah.
Starting point is 01:06:43 Yeah, it's definitely different. Yeah. All right, well. Sorry, I had to talk about weight cut penis. Sorry. With that being said, thank you for tuning in to Coffee Talk, UFC 244 edition. Hashtag use the hoop.

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